Sunday, May 1, 2016

(Micro-stays
are catching on as hotels, apps and websites allow business and
transit travellers, roadies and day trippers to check in — and pay
— for just a few hours.)

There
used to be just one kind of place that gave out rooms in hourly
batches. Not any more.

Responding
to demand from travellers — mainly business and transit, but also
day trippers and roadies — www.chaturmusafir.com
website is helping guests book rooms for anything from 3 to 12 hours,
and pay accordingly. Guest has to verify their account in advance
before getting this facility.

And
no, these aren’t just rest houses and lodges; they range, in fact,
from budget to boutique and starred hotels..

The
term for such bookings is micro-stays, and the concept first became
popular in Europe during the economic downturn of 2008, after which
it spread to the US and then parts of south-east Asia.

With
changing market dynamics, including online bookings and real-time
reviews, hotels too must change, says Adarsh Shetty, president of
AHAR, the Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association. “Micro-stays are
a reflection and a part of that change.”

They’re
certainly making some hotels more popular.

Chatur
Musafir allows guests to book hotel rooms in packs of 3, 6 and 12
hours. In 19 months, the website has seen 14,000 micro-stay bookings
at 2-, 3- and 4-star hotels across 20 cities.

“In
a price-sensitive market, if we can resell the same room in a
same-day cycle and double our revenue, then why not,” says Sujith
Chandrasekharan, director of rooms and the man leading the micro-stay
initiative at Park properties across Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai, Goa
and Navi Mumbai.

At
the Taj Lands End in Mumbai, there is no new-age aggregator involved,
but the five-star hotel came to the micro-stay model on its own.
Land’s End now offers four-hour stays between 9 am and 6 pm.

“Given
today’s hectic work schedules, people find it difficult to plan
holidays in advance. Checking into a hotel, even in their own city,
can provide a break from the routine. Since these guests may not
necessarily want to rent the room for an entire night, we came up
with the micro-stay option,” says Zal Tarapore, director of rooms
at Taj Lands End.

Courtyard
by Marriott in Gurgaon and Sahara Star in Mumbai both introduced
micro-stay options three years ago too, responding to the many
short-stay inquiries they received from business travellers.“

How
Chaturmusafir Started

Two
years ago, ad executive Preeti Jain and her husband Manish, a
businessman, were travelling from Coimbatore to Jodhpur by flight and
then train, with a nine-hour gap in between.

“We
needed a room for, say, six hours. Just to wash up and relax. But we
still ended up paying the full day’s tariff,” says Preeti, 35
Co-Founder . “We decided to do something about that, and that’s
how Chatur Musafir [Smart Traveller] came into being.”

Their
website now allows guests to book hotel rooms in packs of 3, 6 and 12
hours. In 19 months, it has seen 14,000 micro-stay bookings at 2-, 3-
and 4-star hotels across 15 cities, including metros like Delhi,
Mumbai and Bangalore, smaller cities like Jaipur, Kochi and Amritsar
and pilgrim towns like Shirdi & Katra.

Mumbai-based
businessman Manoj Mehata, Director @ Kora Gifts used the website
while driving to Gandhidham, paying just Rs 1,400 for a 12-hour stay
at a 3-star hotel in Ahemedabad, which would have otherwise cost Rs
3,000 (for 24 hours).

“Imuch
prefer inter-city drives to trains or flights, but finding a nice,
reasonable place to stop for the night was always a problem,” he
says. “Four months ago I stumbled upon Chatur Musafir while
searching the internet with word combinations like Hourly Hotels,
short-stays etc. This time, I checked in at 10 pm, slept through the
night, had a shower the next morning, grabbed my complimentary
breakfast and was back on the road by 8 am. It was convenient and
great value for money.”

INANUTSHELL:WHAT
ARE MICRO-STAYS?* Disrupting the
traditional 24-hour check-in-check-out cycle, micro-stays allow
travellers to book hotel rooms for fewer hours and pay less too.
*
While Japan’s ‘capsule hotels’ that offer tiny sleeping spaces
to businessmen and its ‘love hotels’ for space-starved couples
have been around for a while, micro-stays first become popular in
Europe during the economic downturn of 2008, and then spread to the
US and south-east Asia.
* Here, hotels ranging from budget to
boutique and five-stars such as Courtyard by Marriott in Gurgaon and
Sahara Star in Mumbaihave
begun to offer the option over the past three years.
*
Websites and apps such as 6 Hourly, Stay Uncle, Chatur Musafir and
HotelsAroundYou have also joined the game, acting as aggregators and
tying up with hotels to offer packages in cities across the country.
* Options range from 3 to 12 hours, although many aggregators
refuse to entertain unmarried couples.

Sunday, April 24, 2016

Imagine
a single transport carrier charging haphazard amount for your
transport needs. GoPigeon shoots the same question in regard to
shipping your courier. How far is the reach of a courier company that
you can trust on for your organizational needs. The same question
goes for a single transport carrier that has a very limited reach and
hence you have a big fight everyday reaching your desired
destinations. Definitely you would trust a courier shipping company
that has widest and farthest reach, is quite economical, providing
good quality of service. GoPigeon works on the same lines to cater to
any business' needs. With phenomenal reach and ethical charging
policies unlike many other courier shipping companies that charge you
more than other carriers for shipping to some places that are not
very popular or accessible.

Would
a business rely on multiple carriers in that case? And how much
money, time, and resource you would be willing to spend on finding
the right courier company every time there is a need to deliver at
the right place and with the right price, and of course, without any
compromise with the quality and reliability factors. There is a lot
to introspect and think on the subject to fit the economical
spectrum. Any business would not like to take a risk that would
backfire arising a number of unanticipated risks. As a business you
have to deliver to your customers without bothering about howsoever
remote the deliveries need to go. And if it does not work, if will
impact severely on your business. That is where you are required to
ensure that all the shipments to be delivered to various customers
are delivered within the stipulated time and at minimal cost.

GoPigeon
works on these guidelines and thus is able to build a trust among its
customers. It has access to thousands of pin codes across India
thereby ensuring timely delivery of your shipment, consistently. On
top of it by lowering the shipping costs, and does it by finding the
best carrier with the most competitive rates. Within a year of start
of business, it has reached over 20,000 pin codes and has met with
the commitment of
cost-effectiveness and timely deliveries.

Friday, April 22, 2016

CollarFolk is a one month old startup from Delhi that helps pet parents go on an enjoyable and comfortable vacation with their pet. It is a one-stop solution to everything a pet parent would need and want to know as they plan and book a pet friendly vacation.

Traveling with pets in India is a relatively new concept, it being possible mostly if you have your own accommodation up the hills or down the coast. Today, Indians are only just exploring the idea.. CollarFolk has good news. A Pet friendly holiday in India is now an absolute reality and something that is becoming incredibly easy to plan. CollarFolk is happy to be a part of this change in our country, where they are now facilitators of the ideal vacation – one where pet parents can take the entire family, including their beloved pet! With a comprehensive list of pet-friendly resorts, hotels and homestays to choose from, and all the guides and information for a stress free pet vacation, CollarFolk helps make the dream holiday come true.

CollarFolk was started by Rukmini Vaish who is a pet parent herself. Like every other pet parent, she faced this dilemma when planning a holiday, “where will I leave Kiki?” This got her researching properties that welcome pets and to her surprise there were quite a few. A couple of vacations with Kiki and she knew that every pet family would love this! Voila – CollarFolk was born. (watch footage from some of these holidays in our video, the adventures of Kiki)

How does CollarFolk make this happen?In a world that presents an overload of information, CollarFolk cuts to the chase and brings to you what is relevant, appropriate and worthy of calling a ‘vacation’.

Properties they partner with are hand-picked properties that welcome pets aboard. They individually meet and verify the properties to make a database of resorts, hotels and home stays that are genuinely pet-friendly.

Properties listed on the website are verified and checked for suitability and some of the key factors that are considered include: management and staff’s pet friendliness, open space in property, availability of pet food, vet on call, add on services for pet families such as availability of a pet sitter, access to common areas for the pet, pet friendly pool to carpeting or carpet free rooms. They also integrate travel, by providing pet friendly transportation for the holiday.

In addition, CollarFolk also provides pet taxi services in Delhi NCR. Co-operative and pet-friendly drivers, hygienic, well equipped cars with pet hammocks and back seat barriers, spacious interiors and reliable and convenient service are what makes their vehicles truly pet friendly.